Rattlesnakes
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers).
All rattlesnakes are vipers.
Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small animals such as birds and rodents.
Rattlesnakes receive their name from the rattle located at the end of their tails, which makes a loud rattling noise when vibrated that deters predators.
Rattlesnakes are native to the Americas from southern Canada to central Argentina, with the majority of species inhabiting arid regions.
Rattle:
The rattle serves as a warning for predators of the rattlesnake.
The rattle is composed of a series of hollow, interlocked segments made of keratin, which are created by modifying the scales that cover the tip of the tail.
The contraction of special "shaker" muscles in the tail causes these segments to vibrate against one another.
Thus making the rattling noise (which is amplified because the segments are hollow) in a behavior known as tail vibration.
The muscles which cause rattling are some of the fastest known, firing 50 times per second on average, sustainable for a duration up to three hours.
In 2016, Allf et al published a paper proposed that tail vibration in response to predator threat could be the precursor for the rattling system in rattlesnakes, an example of behavioral plasticity.
Findings of the recent study
A new study from Loma Linda University near San Bernardino, California, found that the venomous rattler appears to take comfort in being close to its own kind, much like people.
The research showed that the snakes seem to gain a sense of well-being when they wriggle into sort of a group hug with other rattlers.
The findings challenge the notion that reptiles are solitary hunters that display little in the way of complex social behaviour.
Ethology, the study of animal behavior, has long recognized that birds and mammals, including humans, find comfort from being physically close to their own kind.
Such proximity tends to make reptiles more relaxed, lowers their heart rates and reduces stress - not much different from people.
The calming effect when creatures are in close proximity with their own kind is called social buffering.
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